Delivered
by emergencyfan
Summary: Tag for 'Condemned'.


Not mine. Don't own 'em. Didn't create 'em. Stargate Atlantis and all related characters are the property of MGM.

Tag for "Condemned" because we never got to decompress at the end of the episode :-). BTW, I can't believe we were forced to watch some guy blow up a Chihuahua's butt during commercial breaks so sci-fi could cut the credits for this episode!

Beta'ed by Nebbyjen (but I claim all mistakes as my own).

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DELIVERED**

Sheppard arrived through the gate at a dead run, sliding unsteadily to a stop. Teyla followed cat-like behind him and they both flung out their arms to steady Eldon as he, too, came stumbling through the gate. McKay appeared next, but not on his feet. Having apparently made a dive through the gate, he fell to the floor as he rematerialized on the Atlantis end of the wormhole with an "oomph" and rolled to a stop to one side of the gate. Ronon came next, also mid-dive and at a much greater velocity. Sheppard, Teyla and Eldon had no opportunity to move out of the way before he slammed to the floor, a tumbling two-hundred-pound juggernaut of muscle and bone that crashed into them, bowling them completely off their feet.

There were several seconds of stunned silence by those in the control room, broken only by the harsh breathing of the team as they lay in an unmoving tangle of limbs. The quiet was finally interrupted by a single, uninflected utterance of "ow" from McKay's direction. The guards relaxed somewhat, though they kept their P90s ready and eyed Eldon distrustfully. One of them called a medical team to the control room.

"Crap!" exclaimed Sheppard suddenly. Disentangling his arms and jumping to his feet, he jerked Eldon up and unceremoniously shoved him to one side towards the guards.

Teyla had risen with her normal feline grace and she and Sheppard grabbed Ronon's arms and half dragged him to the side of the gate where Rodney had landed. They had barely cleared the area when Weir's jumper appeared. It hovered a moment before rising through the ceiling towards the bay. Beckett and his crew flooded in to fill the space now left empty by the craft. "We're okay, Doc," Sheppard assured him. "Just a little banged up."

"Relatively speaking," said Rodney, still lying on the floor. Sheppard turned and leaned down, giving him a hand to his feet and clapping him on the shoulder a little harder than necessary. Beckett's entourage and one of the guards acted as escort as they made their way to the infirmary.

McKay rolled onto an infirmary bed, let out a groan of relief, and closed his eyes. Sheppard took the next bed over, lying back gingerly and lacing his fingers under his head, equally happy to be back on Atlantis. Ronon sat at the edge of the bed, looking ready to spring at, or from, anything as usual. And Eldon was trying to make himself as small as possible in one corner of the room, shooting occasional frightened glances toward the soldier standing guard by the door.

"Right. Who's first?" asked Beckett cheerfully.

"I will volunteer," said Teyla without hesitation, taking a seat on a bed.

"Bunch of wee babies, the lot of ya," Beckett said disgustedly, eyeing the men. He cleaned the abrasion on Teyla's cheek and had started on the rope burns on her wrists when he noticed her right forearm appeared slightly swollen. His gentle probe caused her to hiss and jerk her arm reflexively. "Sorry, love," he said wincing in sympathy and giving Teyla a second to catch her breath before continuing with his examination. "How'd you do this?"

"I banged it on the console when the jumper crashed and again when we fought the convicts." She paused and closed her eyes tiredly. "And, again, when we came through the gate."

"You crashed the jumper? Of course you did. You came back through the gate on foot, didn't you," said Beckett, answering his own question. "Were all of you in the jumper when it crashed?" Ronon nodded. McKay didn't bother to open his eyes, just raised his hand slightly in affirmation. Sheppard sighed, unlaced his hand from behind his head, and held up his arm as well. Before he could return it to its former resting place, a nurse pounced on the opportunity to wrap a blood pressure cuff around it. He gave her a disgruntled look but she smiled at him, her eyes twinkling with mirth. His bad humor vanished as he grinned back good-naturedly in return.

"Not, um, not me," said Eldon, timidly, but no one paid any attention.

"I see," Beckett said. "Any other information you'd care to volunteer?" He pinned each one with an intense look.

"Ronon took an arrow through the leg," Sheppard announced cheerfully when the doctor's gaze fell on him. He had no qualms about giving up one of his team members if it meant his aching body could lay relatively undisturbed a few minutes longer.

Beckett 'tsked' and put his hand on Teyla's back, urging her off the bed, and carefully holding her arm at the elbow so she wouldn't bump it as she slid to the floor. "Let's get an x-ray of her ulna," he said to his nurse who put a comforting arm around Teyla's shoulder as she led her away.

Beckett snapped on a pair of gloves as he walked over to Ronon. "Let's see, then." He tipped his chin indicating that Ronon should lie back. With a small growl, Dex obeyed, swinging his legs up on the bed and leaning back on his elbows so he could watch. Beckett cut away some more of the pant leg as well as the field dressing that Teyla had applied earlier, probing around the wound carefully to estimate the extent of the damage. "It went clean through?"

"He broke off the end and ripped it out," volunteered McKay. He looked both appalled and impressed by the memory.

"Son, you shouldn't do that." He reached for some supplies and began cleaning the wound. "If it had damaged an artery…"

"I cannot run or fight with an arrow sticking out of my leg," replied Ronon in a tone that told the doctor he was wasting his breath.

Beckett mumbled something unintelligible and rewrapped the wound. Before the runner could react, he picked up a syringe from the nearby tray and injected the contents.

"What was that?" Ronon asked suspiciously, tensing in surprise.

"Antibiotic," replied Beckett. He picked up another syringe, and swabbed Ronon's arm. "And this is to prevent tetanus."

"Tetanus? In the Pegasus Galaxy?" squeaked McKay. He began to worriedly examine the various cuts and abrasions on his arms.

"You'll be fine, Rodney," replied Carson dryly, returning the emptied syringe to the tray. He rubbed some cream on the burns on Ronon's wrists, then checked the notations the nurse had made on the runner's chart. He shook his head in disbelief, knowing the type of medical care and lack of proper nutrition the runner had been exposed to over the last seven years. "You're as healthy as a bloody horse."

"So, I can go?"

"Yes. Stop by the mess hall for a hot meal and then get some rest. I'll want to check that leg again in the morning."

"Sure," replied Ronon, sliding off the bed and making his escape.

"Lucky bastard," said Sheppard not quite under his breath.

"Who's next?" Beckett asked, peering from one man to the other.

Sheppard poked a thumb towards Rodney's bed.

"They trussed us up like Thanksgiving turkeys," complained Rodney, sitting up and holding out his reddened wrists.

"Mmmm," Beckett said sympathetically as he rubbed cream onto the burns.

"I think I chipped a tooth, too." Rodney pressed his thumb against the bottom of one of his front teeth.

"Anything else?" the doctor asked, his lips twitching amusement.

"He hit this side of the gate kinda hard, Doc," suggested Sheppard, helpfully.

"Did you hit your head?" Beckett checked Rodney's chart for the pupil response recorded by the nurse before pulling out a penlight to check for himself.

"I don't think so."

"You don't _think_ so?"

"I was a little busy trying not to get reduced to my individual atoms by a Wraith death ray at the time," snapped the scientist.

Beckett briefly ran his hands over Rodney's head, searching for signs of injury.

"I did bang my shoulder a bit," he said, rolling it.

A brief prod and some flexing later, Beckett declared it bruised but otherwise uninjured.

"Alright, Colonel," said Beckett, indicating that Sheppard should sit up.

"What about Eldon?" Sheppard asked, grimacing as he levered himself upright even though he knew any hope of further distraction was a lost cause.

"I'm sure he's quite willing to wait his turn," Beckett replied, watching with an experienced eye as the Colonel eased himself into an upright position. "Ribs?"

"Banged myself against the console when we went down," confirmed Sheppard, beginning to peel off his shirt at Beckett's signal.

"It didn't slow you down much," Rodney said. "Isn't the captain…or colonel supposed to be the last one out?"

"What?" Sheppard asked from inside the shirt. He was having trouble pulling it off over his head, his sore and stiffened muscles protesting loudly at the twisting movements.

"You didn't seem too concerned about who was bringing up the rear during our mad dash to the gate," clarified McKay, petulantly.

"It's _called_ 'setting the pace'," Sheppard replied. He was relieved when Beckett finally took pity on him and pulled the shirt free. "Thanks."

Beckett prodded disapprovingly at the bruises on the colonel's side, causing Sheppard to wince and grit his teeth until the doctor finished. "I don't think you've cracked or broken any ribs this time," he said. "But we'll take some x-rays when Teyla's done to be sure. He patted the colonel's knee kindly and was surprised when Sheppard bit off an unmanly yelp.

"Colonel?"

"It's just a bruise."

Beckett stepped back and crossed his arms.

"Fine," Sheppard said. Bending stiffly, he loosened the laces on his boots, kicking them off before easing himself off the bed. With no regard to privacy, he undid his belt and let the pants fall to the floor, kicking his feet out of them and briefly losing his balance when one foot became entangled.

Beckett placed a steadying hand on his arm.

"You could pull the curtain, you know," said Rodney peevishly.

Sheppard eased himself back on the bed. "You've seen me in shorts. Boxers aren't that different."

"I would have thought you were more of a briefs man," replied the scientist.

"McKay, I don't ever, EVER want to know you spend time thinking about my underwear," snapped Sheppard.

Rodney turned bright red and gave the colonel a sour glare before lying back down and closing his eyes.

Beckett chuckled and returned to his scrutiny of Sheppard's leg, satisfied that it was indeed, just a bad bruise. "That's going to be sore for quite some time." He leaned down and retrieved Sheppard's pants and shirt, handing them back to the colonel.

"No kiddin'," Sheppard said, pulling them on and lying down to get his pants over his hips rather than getting in and out of bed again. He lay there panting a bit from the combination of exertion and pain.

Retrieving a half-empty bottle of Tylenol from the cabinet, Beckett shook a couple into Sheppard's palm and handed him a cup of water. "Why don't you rest a bit until it's your turn to be x-rayed," he suggested.

"Not a bad idea," said Sheppard, tiredly closing his eyes.

"Maybe you should let me drive from now on, Colonel," piped McKay.

"And why on Earth would I consider doing that, Rodney?" he asked, his eyes still closed.

"Well," replied the scientist, gleefully antagonistic, "You've crashed…what is it now? _Three_ Jumpers? I haven't so much as dinged one as I recall."

"Technically I didn't crash the one into the hiveship - it blew up - so that doesn't count," Sheppard replied with cheerful sarcasm.

"No, no," argued Rodney, warming to the subject. "You destroyed it nevertheless. You must admit your track record leaves something to be desired."

Beckett shook his head in amusement as the men continued snarking at each other while he tucked the Tylenol bottle into his pocket. He walked over to Eldon who looked anywhere but at the doctor. "You're Eldon?" he asked kindly.

"Yes, that's me. I'm Eldon."

"Eldon, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm just going to perform a routine examination. Is that okay?"

"Yes, okay." He briefly made eye contact before looking away. "Yes, that's okay."

Beckett pursed his lips recognizing the signs of abuse, both mental and physical. He guided Eldon over to a bed and continued to talk soothingly to him during the exam, being as gentle as possible. "All done," he said, after drawing a last vial of blood. "Colonel?"

"Mmumph?" Sheppard blinked blearily and rolled stiffly over on his side to face the doctor. Apparently he had drifted off in the middle of his argument with Rodney.

"Did you have any immediate plans in mind for our guest?"

Sheppard frowned. "Not really."

"I think he might enjoy talking to Dr. Heightmeyer. I can put in a call to her if you like?"

"I think that's a fine idea, Doc."

"Doctor… Height…meyer?" asked Eldon, nervously.

"You will like her, Eldon," Teyla said. She had returned during Eldon's exam and was straddling a chair backward, her head resting tiredly on her good arm across the back of the chair. "I have enjoyed talking to her on more than one occasion."

"Oh…okay then."

Within minutes, it was all arranged and Sheppard nodded to the guard to escort Eldon to the psychiatrist's office.

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you plan to do with him?" Beckett asked Sheppard. He took the folder from the nurse and snapped Teyla's x-rays onto a light board.

"I know of several worlds who would welcome a man with scientific knowledge such as Eldon's," volunteered Teyla. She ignored McKay's snort and rose to look at the x-rays curiously. "These are pictures of the bones inside my arm?" she asked Beckett.

"Yes." He pointed to a particular location on one of the images. "A break would show up as a line here." He smiled as Teyla squinted at the picture.

"So, it is not broken?"

"Appears not. But you've bruised the bone. I'm going to give you an ice pack for it and I want you to sleep with it elevated tonight, alright?"

Teyla nodded in acceptance.

"Your turn, Colonel," said Beckett, waving Sheppard toward the nurse waiting to take him to x-ray.

Sheppard didn't quite manage to stifle a groan as he rolled off the bed and limped out with the nurse.

"The colonel is not seriously injured?" Teyla asked, looking after the retreating figures.

"No, though he'll be stiff and sore for a few days." Beckett pulled the x-rays off the light box and flicked the switch. He handed her the half-empty bottle of Tylenol from his pocket. "Take two every four to six hours. It will help with the pain and swelling. You look out on your feet, but I want you to get something to eat before you go to bed. Take Rodney with…" He stopped mid-sentence realizing the scientist was snoring softly. "Nevermind, I'll send him along with the colonel when I'm done evaluating his x-rays.

"Thank you," Teyla said, taking the bottle. "What of Eldon?"

"Don't worry, Kate and I will find him a secure place for the night. Tomorrow you and Dr. Weir can discuss those options you mentioned earlier."

Twenty minutes later, Beckett reviewed Sheppard's x-rays and released him.

"Come on Rodney," said Sheppard, shaking the scientist out of a deep sleep. "Let's blow this joint before the Doc changes his mind.

"What?" Rodney asked, blinking sleepily.

"Food, Rodney," coaxed Sheppard. He grinned when that got the desired reaction out of the scientist.

"Why didn't you say so?"

The mess hall appeared empty at first. "Look," said Rodney, tilting his head towards a table in a corner where Teyla slept, her food mostly untouched on the plate beside her. "Why don't you go wake her while I'll rustle us up some grub." He clapped his hands and rubbed them together gleefully at the thought of a full stomach.

"What are you now, some kind of cowboy?" He looked at the sleeping form sympathetically. "You just don't want to wake her."

"She wakes up mean," Rodney confirmed. "I accidentally tripped over her when she fell asleep in the hall after the Wraith attack, and I thought she was going to cut my head off before she was fully awake."

Sheppard was looking more leery than sympathetic now. "Fine, I'll do it," he agreed and walked over to the table. He glanced up to see McKay disappearing through the kitchen door before he took a seat immediately across the table from the sleeping Athosian. "Teyla?" he queried softly. When she didn't so much as twitch, he tried again a little more loudly, "Teyla?" He reached out and tentatively touched her left arm. She jerked away with a start. "Easy," he soothed as she blinked groggily.

She pushed back her hair from her forehead and looked around, confused.

"You fell asleep in the mess hall."

"So it would seem," she agreed, pushing herself upright with her good arm and casting an eye at the congealed stew beside her and the half melted ice pack which had slid off her arm and onto the table. She peered at him. "Dr. Beckett has released you and Dr. McKay?"

Reaching over, he and picked up the icepack and laid it gently back on her bruised arm. "Yeah, Rodney's gone to find us something edible." He stretched, wincing as the movement pulled against sore muscles. "I'm looking forward to a hot shower and about eight hours of blissful sleep."

"Dr. Weir was here earlier. She said that she is planning a briefing for tomorrow afternoon."

"Great! Ten hours then," joked Sheppard.

Rodney appeared with a covered tray that he sat on the table and three bottles of water which he passed around. "What's ten hours?"

"That's how long I'm going to sleep. Weir set the debriefing for tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh." Rodney pulled out a chair and sat down. "So, are you going to tell her you want to go back to the planet?"

Sheppard coughed and choked on his water. "What makes you think I want to go back to the planet?"

Rodney snorted. "What? And leave one of your beloved puddlejumpers to the tender mercies of the elements?"

"You could fix it?"

"Absolutely, with a replacement for main power distribution conduit. The question is though, will Elizabeth let us go back."

"Well, not right away, but the Wraith won't stick around very long and it's not like we have an unlimited supply of puddlejumpers.

Rodney grunted in agreement.

Sheppard looked at the covered tray, happy to find an excuse to change the subject. "So, what did you rustle us up, Cookie?" he asked, doing his best imitation of a Texas drawl.

McKay picked up the lid with a flourish, revealing the full plate underneath. "Sandwiches, of course."

**END**


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